


You know they are like sponges?

by lauren_henge



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/F, Just a silly little thing, One Shot, oh vanessa babe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 16:12:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18264845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lauren_henge/pseuds/lauren_henge
Summary: Vanessa lets a little something slip.





	You know they are like sponges?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, just another little one-shot. Wrote this at 4am though so I apologise in advance. Enjoy!

It was a surprisingly calm evening for Vanessa. The boys sat quietly in front of the TV after a busy day at nursery, Noah was staying at a friends and Charity was due to finish her shift any moment now. Vanessa stood in the kitchen, prepping some spag bol for dinner, gently keeping her eyes on the boys until Charity came thundering into the living room. Never a calm evening with Charity Dingle. But there was nothing she loved more. 

“I tell you bloody what for someone so under the thumb, Jimmy doesn’t half knock em’ back before going home. Mind you I would as well if I had to live with Nicola bloody King.” Charity swung herself behind Vanessa, arms gently curving themselves around her waist. She pressed herself against the smaller blondes back and kissed her neck softly. Vanessa leaned back into her touch, before turning herself around the face her other half. 

“Hmm how about we don’t speak like that in front of the boys, eh?” Vanessa smiled softly, letting her know she wasn’t actually angry, before pressing her lips against Charity’s in a kiss. “They are like sponges at this age, you know.”

“Jeez babe, speaking of under the thumb n’ all.” Charity playfully rolled her eyes at the other woman’s words. “And I only said bloody it’s not like I’m wandering around the lounge shouting about motherf--” Vanessa quickly swiped a hand over her mouth, just as Charity expected her to. She could read her like a book, most of the time anyways. Still full of surprises though. 

“Charity! Behave yourself would you? You’ve only been in the door two minutes.” Vanessa tries to give Charity that gentle look of disapproval, but she struggles to keep it together as she looks as the slight smirk creeping onto her fiance's face. 

“Oh but babe, you like it when I don’t behave, and I like it even better when you punish me for it.” Charity whispers into Vanessa’s ear, her breath tickling at the others cheek. A shiver shot its way down Vanessa’s body. Even after all this time, he body was still at the will of the taller blondes, whether she wanted it to or not.

“Charity Dingle there will be nothing of any kind if you keep on. I’m tryna make some dinner. Mind you, you can make yourself useful and pop to the shop for some tomatoes. Funnily enough we have run out.” Vanessa quipped at Charity, knowing exactly why there were no tomatoes. Really she should expect nothing less from Charity when she’s babysitting. 

“Are we still on that, babe? It’s hardly my fault if the boys wanted to play catch and we had nothing to play catch with, is it? Besides you did an outstanding job getting that stain out the carpet.” Charity grinned down at Vanessa, she was angry at first, almost raging. That was until Charity was hit by a rogue flying tomato. She could smell the tomato still in her hair the day after, no matter how much she tried to wash it. 

“All I am saying is that if we want to eat spag bol this evening then you need to go to the shop. Or else it’s just meat and pasta.” 

“Pasta!” Johnny piped up excitedly from in front of the TV. It was all Johnny was eating at the moment, that and fish fingers. 

“Hey, Moses? Johnnybobs? Fancy a cheeky trip to the shop with me? Might even get some chocolate for after dinner, wind up little madam over here.” Vanessa rolled her eyes behind Charity, at least she said for after dinner at least. 

“We can’t go! Rubble is busy!” It was Moses’ time to pipe up now. 

“Well that’s me told, eh babe?” Charity shrugged on her coat and grabbed for her purse. “Anything else babe? I could grab us a sneaky bottle of wine for when the rugrats are in bed.” She said with a wink.

“We live in a pub, Charity. We don’t need to buy wine.” 

“Vanessa Woodfield, are you suggesting we go looting from my own pub? Gonna make a proper little Dingle, aren’t ya?” Charity smirked and left with a kiss on Vanessa’s lips. “See you in a sec, babe.” 

Charity disappeared from the room, leaving behind the soft thud of the door on her way out. Vanessa continued fussing about the kitchen, putting away dishes and humming to herself. This is it. This is what you’ve always wanted. The domestic bliss around her, a beautiful family, if not somewhat dysfunctional at times. Often Vanessa finds herself sidetracked by the thought of the little life she has built herself, her life with Charity. How different it could have been if she never followed her down to that godforsaken cellar that night, how different it would be if it weren’t for that dodgy lock, how different if she had never kissed---

“Fuck!” A lasagne dish she was putting away slipped from her fingers, colliding with her food and the kitchen around her. Glass shattered and spread across the tiles. Moments after the word had escaped her lips she had her own hand over her mouth this time. Oh god. She quickly glanced over to the boys who were now staring blankly at her rather than the television screen. Of all times to get their attention. Her foot throbbed in pain as she surveyed the scene around her. The bloody glass was everywhere, and Vanessa just had to be barefoot. 

“Mummy?” Johnny caught her attention immediately, his little eyes looking over concerned for his mother.

“Just stay there boys, I have to clean up this mess. Don’t move.” Thankfully, the boys were already far out the way, she just had to keep them there. Vanessa began picking up the larger pieces of the dish, tip-toeing over to the bin to watch for any more foot injuries, unsuccessfully. She made light work of sweeping all the little remains and ensuring all the glass is gone, before attaching a plaster to the small cut on her foot from the glass. Could be worse. 

Vanessa’s attention was immediately caught again by Johnny, over by the sofa, throwing a dinosaur onto the floor. “Fuck!”

Oh Jesus fucking Christ.

“Johnny! You must never use that word okay? It’s a really bad word and you must never say it again, you promise?” Johnny nodded, his chin wobbling ever so slightly at his mothers raised voice. She swiftly swooped him into his arms and held him. “Hey, sweetie don’t cry it’s okay I’m sorry. I said a bad word because I was hurt and I was naughty, okay? I’m not angry. But we must never say that word, okay? Moses? You understand, sweetheart?” The boys nodded, Johnny wriggling free from her arms and plonking himself back down in front of the TV. Well, that was easy. 

Vanessa went back into the kitchen, checking again that she had picked up all the glass. She was beyond thankful that Charity wasn’t here. She would never hear the end of it if she was the one to teach the boys swear words, especially with how much she goes on about it to Charity. As if on cue, the taller blonde swings through the front door, clutching tomatoes in hand. 

“Delivery of tomatoes for my favourite girlfriend.” Charity discards them onto the counter, pulling in Vanessa for a kiss. 

“Oh well if this is what the favourite girlfriend gets as a present, heaven only knows what the others get.” Vanessa smiles up at Charity, gently kissing her back. 

“Mushrooms, babe. Much less tasty.” 

***

The rest of the evening went by disaster-free. There was no fuss from the boys eating their tea, no more broken dishes, and mainly, no mention of Vanessa’s little outburst earlier. Once the kitchen had been cleaned, they both took the boys upstairs to get ready for bed. Johnny and Moses bundled themselves up the stairs, Moses tripping at the top and falling flat on the floor. 

“Fuck!”

“Moses!” Both Charity and Vanessa cried out at once. 

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Vanessa crouched and sat next to the boy, sitting him up and making her he was unharmed. 

“My knee.” Moses whined and pointed down to his leg where the smallest of grazes had appeared, just a small carpet burn thankfully nothing worse. 

“Oh babe, that will be okay. That’s only a little bit hurt. We can cure that with a magic kiss, you see?” Charity knelt down as well, placing a soft kiss to her son’s knee. “There. All better. Gotta stop being so clumsy, babe.” She took him into her own arms and kissed his head. Despite all those who said otherwise, Charity was an amazing mother, always so good with the kids when she didn’t even realise it. “Moses, where did you hear that word? We mustn’t say that word.”

“Ness said she says it when she hurts and I hurt.” Moses grumbled into his mums shirt. Charity raised an eyebrow and looked over at her very sheepish looking fiance. Before she could even string a sentence Vanessa had beaten her to it. 

“I also said Moses that it is a really really bad word that we must never say, remember?” The young boy nodded, wiping his eyes from both tiredness and from small tears that had crept out from his tumble. 

“Yeah I sorry.”

“That’s alright, babe. You just gotta promise never to say it again, especially at daddy’s, and at nursery.” Charity joined in, seemingly calm and unphased. Whereas Vanessa was already on red alert. Her stomach had dropped the second she heard the word from the boy. He’s not even you son, Vanessa. She scolded herself and just hoped that this would be the end of these two swearing. 

“Promise.”

“Excellent, now let’s get you and Johnnybobs into those jim-jams then, hey?” 

***

Before the couple had even shut the door of the front room after putting the boys to bed, Vanessa was fretting, panicking with her explanation to give Charity.

“I’m so sorry, so so sorry I dropped a dish on my foot and it smashed everywhere and it just slipped out and then there was glass everywhere and I cut my foot and then Johnny said it and then I thought I had made it clear for them not to say it but no now Moses has gone and said it as well and I’m so sorry, Charity I really never meant to--” 

“Whoa, Ness, babe, chill your boots. It’s alright.” Charity butted into the ramblings of the smaller blonde, she was clearing wound up and beating herself up for it. “You made a mistake. They know not to say it now, babe. No harm done.” 

“You’re not mad at me?” Vanessa face laced itself with confusion. How could she not be? Vanessa felt awful, guilt pulsing through her, tears stinging at her own eyes. How could she have been so stupid?

“Course not, you daft mare. Every parent does it, bloody hell I had a nightmare with Noah when he first heard it. Didn’t stop saying it for weeks.” Vanessa’s face drops and Charity immediately knows it was the worst thing she could have said. 

“Weeks?!” Her voice breaks and tears betray her as they fall down her cheeks. 

“Oh god, no, babe. Come here.” Charity takes Vanessa into her arm and holds her for a minute, a hand drifting across her back. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. What I am tryna say is that it doesn’t matter. Kids gotta pick these things up eventually. They are like sponges at this age, don’t ya know.” Vanessa scoffed a laugh at Charity using her own words against her. She pulled away from the landlady and wiped her face. 

“I’m sorry, I just-- I didn’t-- I’m sorry.”

“Leave it babe. It’s nothing to worry about, trust me.” Charity ran her own thumb across Vanessa’s cheek, clearing another tear that had crept down her face. “No more crying, yeah?” Vanessa nodded and smiled up at the taller blonde. She felt better, relieved. Every little thing that Vanessa failed at as a parent sent her world crashing down. She was a perfectionist, but it was always Charity who brought her back to reality and calmed her down. They did it for each other. They knew each other, knew how to make each other feel so much better. 

“Now babe, apparently I have some wine thieving to do.” She nodded her head towards the door of the pub. “That and gloat all evening that I was not the one teaching them foul language.” Charity looked into Vanessa eyes, smirking to reassure her of the joke. 

“Jesus, I’m not gonna hear the end of this, am I?” Vanessa smiled back at her, rolling her eyes and swatting Charity’s arm gently. 

“You might. When they turn 30. Until then-” Charity lifted Vanessa’s chin, with that dark playful look in her eyes, “I do believe I am the one doing the punishing tonight, babe.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!! Please let me know what you think xox


End file.
